The present invention relates to dental equipment and more particularly relates to "dental articulators".
Dental articulators are used by lab technicians to determine whether a set of dentures need to be ground to fit properly in a wearer's mouth. Articulators generally have upper and lower movable carriers on which the dentures are mounted with their teeth facing one another. By moving the carriers so that the dentures ride against one another in various occlusal movements, the technician can observe "high spots" on the dentures, which he can later grind to produce a more accurate fitting. If the carriers can be constructed so that their movements are able to simulate the complex three-dimensional movements of the human mandible, virtually all of the "high spots" on the occlusal surfaces can be eliminated so that the dentures will fit comfortably and properly in a wearer's mouth during all of the varied jaw movements. The simulated movement thus enables a technician to manufacture accurate dentures without the need of guesswork or trial-and-error fittings of the dentures in the wearer's mouth.
Several attempts have been made to produce an articulator that can simulate the varied jaw motions, e.g., see U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,848,267; 2,270,561; 2,617,195; and 2,765,533. However, these attempts have generally resulted in complicated apparatus that have upper and lower denture carriers with very limited freedom of movements. Consequently, the prior articulators generally do not simulate the movements of the human jaw and, therefore, do not faultlessly test a set of dentures.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a dental articulator which will simulate the complex movements of the human jaw to permit an accurate grinding of the occlusion of dentures so that the dentures will fit properly in a wearer's mouth during all of the varied jaw movements.
It is another object to provide a dental articulator for completely and efficiently testing the accuracy of dentures, enabling the operator to investigate fully the extent to which the dentures are suited to one another and able to serve their purpose.
It is another object to provide a dental articulator which will eliminate guesswork and simplify the heretofore hit-and-miss nature of grinding a proper bearing surface for dentures.
It is a further object to provide a durable articulator that is extremely simple to operate.
These and objects of the invention will become readily apparent when reference is made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.